All In A Dress
by insertcleverandwittytitlehere
Summary: She hated the whole lot of them for even thinking she was less than her competitors, yet she refused to let the crowd win. Their doubts fueled her fire. Their skewed perceptions drove her desire to win. A dragon? That was nothing. Fleur? She was a force to be reckoned with.


**A/N: **This is the Chudley Cannons Captain stepping in as reserve for Beater 1 for Season 7 Round 8 of QLFC.

**Beater 1 Prompt:** Nine of Wands - Upright: resilience, grit, last stand; Reversed: exhaustion, fatigue, questioning motivations

I chose Upright.

I pulled my inspiration from a famous saying about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers: "Sure he was great, but don't forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did… backwards and in high heels."

**Word count (before A/N): **1,232 words

* * *

Fleur stepped into the arena, her heart pressing against her chest like a swelling balloon. When Madame Maxime said there would be dragons, she didn't think it would be like this. The Common Green Welsh towered over her, its startilingly silver eyes scanning the crowd. Nestled beneath its clawed talon, Fleur noticed, was a solitary golden egg.

It had to be her target.

Cautiously, Fleur took a step to her left, intent on remaining on the edge of the arena until she was certain she had the situation under control. Each step brought her a different view of the dragon, its towering haunches, its bat-like wings. She could feel the weight of her own fear pressing down against her shoulders, seeping into each step.

But fear wasn't going to win the cup.

Fleur took a tentative step forward. She could hear the collective breath of the crowd, could feel their energy buzzing overhead like a powerful sonorous charm echoing inside her brain. Did Cedric approach the dragon? Was she making the wrong move? What could the crowd see above her with their hawk-eye view that she couldn't see from below?

She knew what they all were thinking—she was the only girl to make it into the tournament, and the odds were already stacked against her. Everyone expected her to come in last just because she was a girl. Just because she liked frilly things. Even that Hogwarts child was projected to do better, and he clearly did not have the same skill set as the older students.

Fleur hated the whole lot of them for even thinking she was less than her competitors, yet she refused to let them win. Their doubts fueled her fire. Their skewed perceptions drove her desire to win.

Fleur took another step forward. This time, the dragon shifted, its scales rippling in the sunlight. It opened its mouth and snapped at something in the stands, then it turned again, its piercing eyes momentarily dropping to make sure its egg was still within its protection.

Fleur nodded to herself. The egg was definitely her target.

Suddenly, the dragon roared. Fleur threw her arms in front of her instinctively, thrown off by the guttural sound coming from the beast. Her head rose, and their eyes met. Within seconds, Fleur felt something like a hard branch whack against her side. Her whole body tumbled through the air, rolling across the dirt and rocks on the ground. She felt her lip split open on impact. Scrambling, she pulled herself behind a large boulder and pressed her back against its warm surface. Everything in her body was screaming.

Closing her eyes, Fleur attempted to piece together what had just happened. Her focus had dropped to the egg, and the dragon spotted her. Then it had tossed her with its tail like she was a sack of flour. How could she have been so stupid as to pull her focus from it? Madame Maxime had said as much the night before; the dragon had something in its protection, she would need to figure out what it was, then turn all her attention to the monster itself.

If the dragon was protecting it, Maxime reasoned, whatever it was would remain unharmed while the dragon was awake. Once it was incapacitated, Fleur could focus on the prize.

Fleur shook her head, opening her eyes. She pulled her wand hand in close to her chest and watched as the shadow of the dragon moved across the wall of the arena. It did not appear to be approaching her, instead growing smaller as it moved away. She sighed with relief.

Above her, Fleur could hear only bits and pieces from the crowd now, hushed murmurs as she sat cowering, nursing the bruises forming across her whole body. There was laughter, too, and her heart sank. Were they laughing at her? Cedric had returned so quickly. Was she failing?

No, a little voice in her head told her. Get up.

Fleur took a decisive breath, pushing out all the bad thoughts and bad energies she felt mounting around her. She lowered her gaze to the arena floor. Her fingers twirled her wand around, once, twice, loosening her wrist. Everything above faded into white noise. All that mattered now was her and the dragon.

Fleur leaned forward and crouched on all fours. Slowly, she peeked out from behind the boulder, letting her eyes assess the situation. The dragon hadn't moved much, though its focus was now on the crowd again instead of on her. She pulled her feet into a crouching position, placing both her hands on the edge of the rock. Her wand was pointed in the dragon's direction.

She ran through her options: stun it and risk crushing the egg. Plus, she reasoned, was a simple stunning spell enough to put down a dragon?

She could confund it. Though, what if that resulted in the dragon attacking the crowd? She may not like most of those doubters, but she didn't want to maim or fry them.

A containment charm could work, but she didn't feel nearly as confident with that spell as she would have with the others.

A sleeping spell! That could work.

Pushing back a few stray hairs, Fleur stood. The dragon turned toward her again, the muscles in its throat contracting, rippling like ocean waves. The dragon reeled back its head, opened its mouth, and spat fire over her head in warning.

She could feel the heat radiating off the stream of yellow and orange. Sweat broke out across her brow and neck, but she welcomed it. She smiled at the beast, her wand pointed directly at its heart.

It may have fire, she thought, but she had grit.

Moments later, the dragon began to sway on the spot. Its eyes became hooded, its snout drooped. The crowd began to murmur again, breaking through to Fleur as she stood straight, staring down her prey with a smirk on her face.

The Green Welsh fell to its stomach. Its eyes slid closed, and it gave a rather loud snore as it drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Fleur walked directly to the egg, all thoughts of fear and doubt finally melting away. The crowd burst into cheers, and she felt the delight on her face pulling her lips upward to reveal a big smile.

They could say what they wanted. The awful Skeeter woman could write all she wanted about the other three. Nothing would change this moment for her, and Fleur knew it in her heart that she was going to win it all. Nothing could stop her now.

She looked back at the dragon, unwilling to tear her eyes off of what she had done. Proven her worth? Sure, maybe that. But she'd also taken down a full-grown dragon!

It snored again, but this time, a long stream of fire came out. Fleur had only a moment to jump past the flame, though she could feel it licking at her knees. Looking down, she saw her skirts were ablaze, but it only made her smile more. She doused them with a jet of water from her wand and strode over to her egg.

Not only did she take down a dragon, but she also did it in a dress.

And she doubted very much that Cedric or Viktor or even Harry could do that.


End file.
